


girls/girls/boys

by Control_Room



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friendship, Homophobic Language, Kisses, M/M, Not My Regular AU, Not related to The Big Picture, Pining, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Pretending to be straight, Slurs, Snippets, Useless Lesbians, queer solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23643316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Control_Room/pseuds/Control_Room
Summary: Susie and Joey are both excellent actors.
Relationships: Joey Drew/Henry Stein, Susie Campbell & Joey Drew, Susie Campbell/Allison Pendle
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	girls/girls/boys

**Author's Note:**

> i cannot stress this enough this isnt related to my other worksssss  
> but!!! it is also something i started writing 12.27.2018 and stopped about that time too sO be happy it exists at all  
> may yall also have luck on ur wips <3  
> also. the slurs are homophobic so stay safe reading <3

Her lips were soft and gentle against his own, even though only a fraction of his face was to be seen behind his mask. He winced. She flinched, but no one noticed as they cut the ribbon. Joey grinned to the crowd, shoving the distracting horrible thoughts off a cliff to interact with the crowd. Susie did the same, he putting a hand on her shoulder, interpreted by all as a possessive romantic gesture, in reality a stabilizing ‘I am here’ for support. Henry and Allison, amid the other employees, clapped behind them. Joey managed to regain a facade of smooth happiness, Susie taking over with her powerful likable personality, bubbling over and floating through the body of people.

_Inkamation Studios_.

Stein & Drew was carefully written beneath, in a looping script, the ‘w’ stylized with horns and a tail, the ‘i’s dot a halo adorned with wings.

Neither Henry Stein’s nor Joey Drew’s studio, but little Linda’s suggestion, Inkamation.

It gave Joey some relief, no one, absolutely not one soul, could say he was being greedy. Henry flashed him a smile, talking to other animators from other companies who came to congratulate (or rather, warn) the new competition, but they were completely stolen away by Henry’s wry humor and gentle nature, and by the enigma of Johan’s very being. (Joey was completely smitten by his stout co - owner as well, but no one knew.)

Susie caught Allison’s eye and they beamed at one another. Joey chuckled and softly tapped Susie with a wink, making her elbow him playfully. She wrapped her arm around his hips, holding on for her dignity. She knew that she would cry later, be it from stress or yearning.

He squeezed her shoulder, the sentiment identical.

They tried to keep the pace, boosting each other when needed in a world that would destroy them for who they were.

It was working, most of the time.

“Watch it, faggot!” a reporter snarled at another whom he had bumped into. Susie could feel Joey stiffen, but he calmly approached the man. “Mr. Drew! I wanted to get an interview with y-”

“Senor, lease apologize to this young man you called a faggot,” he instructed softly. The crowd around the two silenced rapidly. “Not that there is anything wrong if one is homosexual, but using it as a slur is unacceptable. If you do not apologize, I will have you leave the premises of this studio.”

“Are you a slut or something? A pimp? Do you want him?” the man, shook up and not used to apologizing, forgetting his want of an interview, jeered, pointing at the shocked junior reporter. Henry, who had caught wind of the situation much like everyone else, scowled and marched up to him, standing beside Joey. He sneered at the blonde as well as Johan cowered. “What, are you this wetback’s master?”

Henry was silent, the journalist leaning over him quite easily due to his stature.

In one quick motion, Henry grabbed the man and tossed him back over himself, spinning around and yanking him up by the collar.

“We don’t tolerate any discrimination here, no racism, sexism, or xenophobia,” he spat, loud enough for everyone to hear, green blue eyes narrow. “We all draw for the silver screen here.”

The headline from that particular newspaper was not flattering, yet from the journalist they defended, a stellar review.

Joey hung it up in his office.

That night, Susie pressed her face against Johan’s chest, inhaling the cinnamon like incense in his being, relaxing to the familiar scent.

He curled around her, his lanky form wrapping her like a bubble, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back soothingly.

“Thank you, for everything… and that,” he whispered, referencing their kiss from before. She chuckled, knowing that was his aim. “I mean it, Susie, you’re great.”

“What can I say? Your lips are irresistible,” Susie giggled. He smiled, rolling his eyes to look at the ceiling. She rolled over to look up with him. “Finally, some alone time, hm?”

“Susie,” he groaned with a smile in his voice. “You… you know I love you, but your quips could use a lot of work. That one in particular was awful.”

“Love you too, Joey,” she grinned, rolling back to press herself to his chest. “Just not how anyone thinks we’re in love. Gross. Do people really think we’re together, or is everyone laughing with us?”

“Ugh, agreed,” Joey hummed, yawning. He smirked at her, his lopsided grin nothing but sweet. “Honestly though, it does look like it sometimes, as you are aware, miss ‘I’ll kiss you so they think we’re straight’.”

“It worked!”

“Yeah, y-yeah, sure it did.”

“It did!”

“I know, ha, just teasing you.”

“How’s this for a tease!?”

Susie pushed him off his side, laying on top of him and nuzzling the side of his face. He squeeked, blushing and giggling. She laughed at his expression, embarrassed and dying of affection.

He squirmed beneath her as she pushed her mouth to his cheek, blowing and making him howl in laughter. She laughed as well, cuddling against him.

After he calmed down from his guffaws, he smiled. He had such a nice smile, Susie decided, grinning back. He wrapped his arms around her.

“Did you talk to Allison yet?” he asked jokingly. She blushed and hid her face in the crook of his neck. “Aw, sweetie, come on, you can do it!”

“No, Joey, I can’t,” she protested, wriggling at the thought of Allison. “She’s so pretty! I can barely look at her for five minutes because she’s so cute!”

“That’s so sweet,” he crooned. She swatted at him, and responded, “Well, you can’t look at Henry without getting hot and bothered!”

“H-hey, flustered is not the same as turned on,” Johan rebuffed. She rolled her eyes. “You know that!”

“I do,” she chuckled. “Just teasing you back.”

“I know,” Joey sighed, hugging her tighter. She hugged him back. “I’m… I’m really glad I have you.”

“I’m happy you’re here for me,” Susie replied, pulling the blankets over them. Joey’s ruby eyes met her teals, and they giggled, just two friends playing the world. “Joey.”

“Susie.”

They looked at each other, basking in the knowledge that they were not alone, and that they could always count on each other for support.

***  
  


Susie, hoping to make this quick, shoved Joey down onto the bed, kissing him deeply. He wrapped his arms around her neck, pulling her closer, but she could tell that in spite of the rowdy act he was putting on, he really did not feel anything more than plutonic for her.

She began to pull back, knowing the regret that would flow through him if they continued, but he desperately brought her back, whimpering and rubbing his thin curved hips against her smooth round ones. Both of them winced, but Johan grit his teeth to ignore it. Begging, wishing, pleading, he was on the verge of tears, his eyes shut tightly and salty water leaking out of them.

He shook and kissed her, trying so hard to feel more, to be like everyone else, to… to not love Henry.

It hurt so bad, to love him from afar.

He had worked up his courage asked Susie to have sex with him, to attempt something that had been attempted before in a worse time, but it was clearly not going to work.

He grit his teeth, gripping her hips and pulling her close, and it _was not working._

“Joey, please, you’re just going to hurt yourself by doing this.” Susie sighed, running a hand over his cold sweated brow. “I’m not going to do this unless I can tell you actually want it.”

“I-I,” he grimaced, “just, just a minute.

No spark. No reaction. No sudden switch, nothing he prayed and begged for.

He tried once more, his hands shaking, and… nothing.

Susie looked down at him sadly.

She pulled back, wrapping her arms around him gently, letting his silent sobs transfer onto her own body. She ran her hands through inky blue black hair. 

“It’s okay to be gay, Joey,” she murmured, stroking his back. “It’s okay to be in love with Henry.”

“It’s so painful, I know it’ll never work out,” he moaned, tears streaming down his face. “Henry was _married_ , to a _woman_ , and he’d d-dated Diane….”

“Joey….”

“You remember why we got together, right?” he laughed hysterically in his sobs. “To fix us. To hide the fact somethin’s wrong with us.”

“Yeah…” Susie hugged him tighter. “But I don’t think we’re broken.”

Joey buried his face in her shoulder and prayed she was right.

  
***

The studio had been operating under its new management for two months.

Susie bounced on her toes impatiently, waiting for Allison to finish singing.

Allison noticed her restlessness, and smiled, completing her verses in due time.

She slipped out of the recording booth.

Allison looked down at Susie, but at the same time, she looked up to her, her mentor and teacher and glorious idol.

“How was that?” she asked eagerly. “Was I good?”

“You really wanna know what I think?” Susie asked quietly, glancing at Sammy and Norman, as well as the other orchestra members. Allison nodded, her eyes flashing and her grin bright. “Come along, Ms. Pendle, I’ll tell you in private.”

“Why in secret?” Allison questioned, following, but her smile fading with worry. Was she really that bad that she needed to be reproved in secret? Susie motioned her slowly into a room, closing the door after she entered. Susie gestured that she sit. Allison did, gripping her knees. “Ms. Campbell… did I do badly?”

“Bad?” Susie’s eyes went wide, and then softened sweetly. She picked up Allison’s head in her hands. “You want to know what I feel?”

“Yes, honestly,” Allison replied dutifully, preparing for a scathing report. Susie rose an eyebrow. “Honestly for both you and I, please tell me.”

“Okay,” Susie said, and kissed her. Allison froze, her heartbeat suddenly very audible in her ears. Susie pulled back after a moment, a heavy blush on her face. “How was that?”

“Incredible!” Allison blurted, and colored even more. She held a hand to her chest. “Susie, you… you kissed me! Oh god! Oh god, how… I… I never told anyone!”

“Told anyone what?” Susie’s smile faded. “I wanted to show you how good you are….”

“I never told anyone I’m a lesbian,” Allison bit her lip, and smiled at Susie’s glowing face. “Susie… Susie, I fell in love with you the day we met.”

“I don’t know when I fell in love with you,” Susie admitted, “But I know that I do.”

Allison felt tears welling in her eyes as she brought Susie in for another kiss. She pulled back just as fast.

“What about Joey?” she asked, almost in fear. Susie blinked, confused and processing the information. “He’s gonna be mad if he sees you with me, oh god, oh no n-”

“Shh,” Susie hushed her, smiling. “Joey is gay.”

Allison stared at her.

“Really?”

“Have you seriously not seen him? He emits disaster gay energy everywhere.”

“Fair point.”

***  
  


Joey sighed, directing the episode, already having given Henry the story boards. Susie and Allison were singing together in the other room, Susie having told him excitedly that Allison and she had gotten together. She thanked him for being their cover. It had been such for a month, the three of them living together, the two lovebirds and their shield. So Joey, so happy for them, sat, so sad, beside Henry. 

Henry was not a prolix type, and he drew away in silence. As much as Joey adored him, he wished he would talk to him more often. He leaned over Henry’s shoulder to watch him draw, as always stolen away by his smooth lines and unobtrusive inking. Henry smiled at him, glancing from the corner of his eye.

“Hello, Mr. Drew,” he hummed with a wink at his best friend. Joey felt a flush on his cheeks. “What are you up to?”

“Nothing really,” he answered softly, resting his head on Henry’s, the golden hair tickling his neck and chin. Henry reached up to mess with Joey’s hair for a moment. Joey leaned against his hand, content with how everything was, just restless. “Need any help?”

“Hm, sure, I could use a little bit of animation assistance,” he replied. Joey smiled and walked around him, holding out his hand for a paper to work on. Henry instead pulled him onto his lap, seating him between his legs, making him stifle a yelp. “Here, you’re left handed, right? Well, I’m ambidextrous, so we can work together, eh?”

“Absolutely,” Joey replied at the quietest hearable volume, his face ablaze. Henry rested his chin on his shoulder, continuing to draw the scene. They drew together in silence, Henry’s low humming the only sound aside from pen on paper. Joey felt whistles tug on his throat, and he swallowed to push them back. Instead he said; “This is nice.”

“Feels like your giving back for once,” Henry muttered, probably not meaning to be heard. Joey forced away the stiffness that would have overtaken him. Henry seemed to realize where he was, and he shifted, uneasily answering him. “It is nice. And sorry. You do give back a lot more than I give you credit for.”

“We could do something like this more often, you know,” Joey nonchalantly remarked, his heart pounding in his chest and ears. “O-or you can leave the backgrounds undone, I’d probably have time to finish things off.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Henry answered, stunned. “Sounds… really good.”

“You can drop them off in my offi-”

“Meet me here every day at two.”

“I… uh… sure.”

Joey smiled at him when they finished the animation.

Henry absentmindedly pecked his cheek as he left to give the shots to Norman to film, seeming not to have noticed what he had done at all.

Joey stared after him, his mouth slightly ajar and a blush spilling all over his face and his eyes widening in surprise.

“Wow,” he breathed.

  
***  
  


“Hello, you snake, where’ve you been?” Susie teased when Joey walked in. Joey blushed, his ears turning pink and tilting back. Allison chuckled and ran her hands through his hair. She scratched him behind the ear, making him hum contentedly. “Alli, you’re going to make him stop working. You’re gonna make him melt. Literally.”

“Really?” she, now curious, inquired. “I wanna see.”

“Then just keep doing what you’re doing,” Susie rolled her eyes. “Give it a second.”

Allison nodded, watching a smile slowly inch onto Joey’s face. His eyes squinted, and she, with delight, realized how much like a happy snake he looked. 

“He _is_ a snake….” she murmured in pleasant surprise. She scratched harder, and a feel-good vibration echoing through him. She watched him slowly dissolve, lowering to the floor slowly. She laughed quietly, pulling him into her arms. “Oh, he’s so cute!”

“He is, isn't he?” Susie giggled, on her toes to kiss her cheek. “Such a sweet man.”

Johan beamed.

***  
  


Susie stretched as she got up, another month had passed. Joey grumbled at the loss of a heat source, turning and wrapping his arm around Allison. Susie rolled her eyes.

“Coffee?” she offered. Joey made a face, his tiredness still prevalent in his expression even after a rest, and a full night’s sleep for once, forced to bed by the two lovers in spite of his anxiety of being forced out. She laughed at the disgust he held for the drink he drank every morning. He shrugged, getting up and putting on his glasses. She sighed and sat back on the bed, leaning up to kiss his forehead. “You alright? You were pretty worried about your pin going missing yesterday.”

“I don’t think it was an accident,” Joey quietly replied, staring at his calloused hands. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes, her lips parting in question. “I think someone took it on purpose.”

“What makes you think that?” Allison mumbled, rolling onto his lap. “Mmm… comfy.”

“My shirt had a tear in it,” he explained, furrowing his brow, trying to pull together bits of information. “The pin was ripped off. Someone really deft and sharp eyed would have had to have done it, especially without me noticing.”

“Let’s hope not…” Susie sighed, but knew he was right. He cautiously kissed her cheek. She smiled slightly. “I’m sure it’ll all be alright. It’s not a popularized symbol at the moment, so you’ll likely be fine, Joey.”

“I don’t know,” he murmured. “If someone took it… they probably know what it is.”

***  
  


Joey did not like the silence as he walked in. His anxiety flowed into his chest, and he froze up, glancing around. People were definitely here, he confirmed, the punch ins nearly all filled. He went to his office, finding the pride pin on his desk, clearly where he had not left it. He put it on, covering it with his suit jacket. Joey quietly made his way to the pub room. Susie burst out, her face red with anger and blotchy with furious tears. Allison’s yelling was heard wafting from down the stairs. Susie’s eyes widened when she saw Joey, and she hugged him.

“The game’s up,” she whispered against his ribs. He felt himself stiffen and instantly relax as though he had just been stabbed and had given up. “I’m so sorry, Joey… it’s just you.”

“It’s alright, he responded, feeling light and airy, not within a proper realm of thought any longer. “It was bound to _come out_ eventually.”

“Joey, please, be serious, think, what are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to walk in there and be the hottest bitch any of them have ever seen.”

“Wait, what?” she sputtered, he flashing her a grin. “Joey!”

She followed him as he entered the pub room, whispers and laughter swirling around him as he shoved open the door. Joey stood tall and regal, and delicately took off his jacket and tossed it onto his right shoulder, his heart pin flashing. The giggles and jeers instantly died, and he let a smile gently flow over his lips, his eyes becoming lowered, allowing himself loose, draping himself over the banister and sliding down gracefully. Not a sound could be heard as he strutted through the room, and an aura of princehood wafted around him. Sammy stared, Jack’s jaw dropped, and Bertrum beamed. Joey ruffled his own hair, Henry gawking at him before turning to the table sharply. Joey winked at Johnny Doe, who had been watching him with large eyes to match his last name. 

“See something you like?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. The organist flushed rapidly, shaking his head and turning to stare at the table alongside Henry. Joey turned to face everyone. He rose an eyebrow and spread his arms in a fluid motion. “Any-y questions?”

Silence.

“Good.”

***  
  


“Hey, so….”

Johan turned around at Henry’s voice. They stood in one of the unused rooms. Joey had gone into it earlier to scope it to determine if it would be better for someone’s office or a storage unit.

“I found your pin on the ground yesterday,” Henry confessed. “Wasn’t sure if it was yours, but I put it on your desk anyways… because if it wasn’t yours, then whoever it did belong to would think to go to you.”

“Ah.” Joey blinked. “So how did people find out about it…?”

“They saw me put it there, and then assumed,” Henry admitted, shifting nervously. “Then Susie came in and she accidentally confirmed it, and Allison tried to control the damage, but it was too late for any savings.”

“I see,” Johan smiled. Henry relaxed, and inquired, “No hard feelings?”

“No, ‘course not,” Johan giggled. “I’ve been dyin’ to come out anyways.”

“Oh, good, good, glad to hear,” Henry sat on one of the couches. He patted the space beside him. Joey blushed, but sat beside him anyways. “So, er… I’ve been meaning to tell you….”

Joey looked at him with wide eyes, not expecting anything, merely due to the fact that he soaked up everything Henry had to say.

“I’m bisexual.”

“Oh.” Johan processed it, and smiled even wider, hugging the man. “I’m glad you trust me e-enough to tell me.”

“That’s… that’s not all…” Henry spoke slowly, but he hugged Joey back. “Joey, I’m in love with you.”

“Yes.” was Joey’s response, wide eyed. Henry furrowed his brow, about to question, but Joey kissed him. “Yes. I love you, too Henry.”

No one questioned why they were holding hands the next day. Or why Susie and Joey high fived.


End file.
